Chant4Change brings call-and-response music to the Lincoln Memorial on Oct. 8 to heal and unite the nation.

During this time of political tension, when the noise of fear and division dominate social discourse, most people yearn for a better way forward. Meditative music and devotional yoga have inspired, mobilized, and healed people throughout history. One month before Election Day, on Oct. 8, 2016, a collection of musicians and inspirational speakers present Chant4Change, a 10-hour-long free festival of tolerance, love and unity.

On the same steps where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his powerful, “I Have a Dream,” speech 53 years ago, musicians from a variety of call-and-response traditions, including kirtan, will join community and spiritual leaders in sharing their hopeful prayers and messages of inclusion and goodwill. The free event will provide a powerful reminder to the world that mankind can live in harmony together.

The goal, says organizer and noted kirtan musician Gaura Vani, is to transmit a healing message of peace through chant music: “The situation we are facing as a globe cannot be solved alone. Music offers a way to come together and to listen to each other.”

Confirmed presenters include Radhanath Swami, author of the New York Times best- seller, “The Journey Within,” Gaura Vani, who performs with The Hanumen and The Juggernauts, hip-hop innovator MC Yogi, Grammy-winning a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock, and Yoga Alliance Chief Ambassador Andrew Tanner. Sponsors include the Call and Response Foundation, Yoga Alliance and Mannabliss, LLC.

“The more we allow ourselves to be driven by our differences, the further apart we are pulled from one another…We are beings that are supposed to live in harmony and love, and when we fall away from expressing that, it is usually where things go wrong.”– Radhanath Swami, The Journey Within

About Chant4Change: A project of the Call and Response Foundation and Gaura Vani, LLC, Chant4Change is a festival of chant music focused on raising harmony, love and unity among all peoples and religious traditions. About the event: Chant4Change 2016 is scheduled for Oct. 8, 2016, from 12 pm to 10 pm, at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, 2 Lincoln Memorial Cir NW, Washington, DC 20037.